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Guardian Article Demonstrates Little Understanding of Economics andWar
Editted for length but not for stupidity.

Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday October 1, 2003
The Guardian

Former US government officials with close connections to the Bush family have set up a consultancy with the former Thatcher aide Lord Powell to advise companies how to win contracts in the $87bn (£52bn) effort to rebuild Iraq.
The emergence of New Bridge Strategies has intensified criticism that the Bush administration is putting cronyism before either Iraqi or US national interests. This smacks of totally ineffective cronyism. For effective cronyism the bid process has to be in the bag and the advisory group would be secret so that only the cronyies could get advice.

The initial reconstruction contracts in Iraq went exclusively to US corporations.

They included Halliburton, Vice-President Dick Cheney’s former company, which won a $500,000 deal to put out oil fires and provide services for US troops without having to go through a competitive bidding process. zzzzzzzzzzz
The scope for western firms to do business in Iraq was widened considerably last month when the Iraqi governing council announced that companies operating in Iraq could be entirely owned by foreign companies. Shouldn’t the cronyies be mad that the scope of competition is being widened?

On its website New Bridge Strategies describes itself as "a unique company that was created specifically with the aim of assisting clients to evaluate and take advantage of business opportunities in the Middle East following the conclusion of the US-led war in Iraq". Sounds good.

"Its activities will seek to expedite the creation of free and fair markets and new economic growth in Iraq, consistent with the policies of the Bush administration," the statement declares. I’m onboard.

"The opportunities evolving in Iraq today are of such an unprecedented nature and scope that no other existing firm has the necessary skills and experience to be effective both in the United States and on the ground in Iraq." Don’t be pissing off the Guardian by including only positive info about your company on the company website. Let’s see some fair and balanced advertising. Say something nice about other advisory companies.

The website advertises the political connections of its board members, particularly its chairman and director, Joe Allbaugh.
There you go again. Tooting your own horn on your website.

Mr Allbaugh was George Bush’s campaign manager in the 2000 presidential election and formerly part of the "iron triangle" of close Bush aides which included Karl Rove and Karen Hughes.

In the first two years of Mr Bush’s presidency Mr Allbaugh ran the federal emergency management agency.

The company’s vice-chairman is Edward Rogers, who was a deputy assistant to the first President George Bush and an executive assistant to the White House chief of staff. Sounds like they got a good team. I bet this who advisor/lobbiest trend catches on. Probably should stick with the Lobbism moniker as Cronyism doesn’t have the same ring.

Snip

Paul Krugman, a New York Times commentator and frequent critic of the Bush administration, described the company as forming part of a long list of examples of Bush "cronyism".

He said the former law firm of Douglas Feith, a senior Pentagon official who was instrumental in pushing the case for war, was also competing for postwar business.

He pointed to the exclusive contract for restoring Iraq’s electricity supply given to Bechtel, "whose Republican ties are almost as strong as Halliburton’s". Nothing like winning an exclusive contract for construction under fire.

He said the decision not to let local contractors bid for some of the work was part of the reason Iraq was suffering so many blackouts. Was kind of hard to get the local Iraqi guys to return the bid packages before the war. Does Mr. Krugman understand that all construction in Iraq was accomplshed by the army? Anyway, the administration has included this in its lessons learned and is currently negotiating with contractors in Syria and Iran.

The US army have also complained that the practice of subcontracting the supply of rations and clothing has led to significant delays and hardships for the troops, because private contractors, fearful for their own safety, have failed to turn up in Iraq. Obviously, we need open bidding by companies that don’t deliver or work in war zones.

Mr Krugman wrote: "The really important thing is that cronyism is warping policy: by treating contracts as prizes to be handed to their friends, administration officials are delaying Iraq’s recovery, with potentially catastrophic consequences." The contracts are currently being bid - economically that is different than cronyism. Handing out contracts to frineds and family is cronyism. For more information about cronyism you can read any biography of Saddam Huissain not written in Iraq.

New Bridge Strategies had not returned calls from the Guardian by yesterday evening

But its president, John Howland, has assured the New York Times that it is not seeking to promote its political connections to drum up business.

He added that although Mr Allbaugh had spent most of his career in politics, "there’s a lot of cross-pollination between that world and the one that exists in Iraq today."

Hopefully, many companies will participate in the rebuilding process. I predict that these companies will end up hiring actual Iraqis and that these Iraqis will be paid wages. As the process unfolds some of this money will be spent on goods and services bought from other Iraqis....


Posted by: Superhose 2003-10-02
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=19392